The operation of a modern commercial bakery in the manufacture of bakery products such as sliced bread loaves begins with the preparation of dough which is deposited into baking pans, proofed, and baked. Thereafter, the baked loaves of bread are removed from the pans, cooled, sliced, wrapped in plastic film, and loaded into bakery trays for delivery to retail outlets.
As is well known, bread and other wrapped bakery products such as hamburger buns, hot dog buns, etc. are available in a seemingly infinite number of sizes. However, commercial bakeries do not typically provide bakery trays which are configured to receive particular bakery products. Rather, commercial bakeries typically employ one type, or at most a few types, of bakery trays which are used to receive and transport a wide variety of bakery products.
Prior to being loaded into bakery trays, bakery products are arranged in predetermined patterns, the purpose being to assure the most efficient loading of a particular tray configuration with a particular bakery product to be received therein. In addition to loading efficiency, the positioning of the tails of the wrapped bakery products, that is, the openable ends thereof which are tied or otherwise secured during transport, is also taken into consideration. Preferably, the tails of the wrapped bakery products face inwardly thereby preventing snagging or tearing during transport.
The apparatus that is used to arrange wrapped bakery products in predetermined patterns prior to the loading thereof into bakery trays is known as a pattern former. Typically, a pattern former receives individually wrapped bakery products from the wrapping apparatus, arranges the received wrapped bakery products in groups comprising between 1 and about 6 wrapped bakery products, assembles at least 2 and as many as several groups of wrapped bakery products relative to one another to form the predetermined pattern, then positions the entire pattern of wrapped bakery products in a bakery tray for transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,522,292 granted to Euverard, et al. on Jun. 11, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,856,263 granted to Schneider, et al. on Aug. 15, 1989; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,859 granted to Schneider, et al. on Jun. 7, 1994 illustrate and describe prior art pattern formers. The pattern formers of the prior art are relatively complex in design and are therefore costly to purchase and maintain. Perhaps more importantly, prior art pattern formers are relatively slow in operation, achieving the maximum rate of about 60 loaves per minute. This means that several of the prior art pattern formers are required in order to fill bakery trays with wrapped bakery products at a rate that is compatible with the output of a typical bakery product wrapping apparatus.
The present invention comprises an improved pattern former for wrapped bakery products which overcomes the foregoing and other deficiencies which have long since characterized the prior art. In particular, the pattern former of the present invention has an operational speed of 100 loaves per minute which means that a significantly smaller number of pattern formers is required in order to fulfill the pattern forming requirements of the modern commercial baking operation. This results in substantial savings to the bakery operator both in terms of initial cost and in terms of maintenance requirements.
The use of pattern formers incorporating the present invention is also advantageous in that pattern formers constructed in accordance with the invention are adapted to receive wrapped bakery products along the same axis and from the same bakery product inputting devices that have been used to supply pattern formers of the prior art, and to deliver filled bakery trays along the same axis and to the same bakery tray receiving apparatus that has been used with prior art pattern formers. This means that the pattern former of the present invention can be installed in an existing bakery without reconfiguring the bakery and without repositioning the apparatus which deliver wrapped bakery products to and receive filled bakery trays from the pattern former.
More particularly, the pattern former of the present invention employs a vacuum turntable to receive groups of wrapped bakery products and to assemble the groups of wrapped bakery products into patterns. The use of the vacuum turntable of the present invention is advantageous in that by means thereof, wrapped bakery products are received and accurately positioned within predetermined patterns without damage either to the bakery products or the wrapping thereof.
The pattern former of the present invention further includes apparatus for transferring groups of wrapped bakery products onto the vacuum turntable while simultaneously assembling a second group of wrapped bakery products. A similar apparatus transfers patterns of wrapped bakery products into bakery trays while a subsequent pattern is simultaneously being formed. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the ability of the pattern former of the present invention to perform multiple tasks simultaneously significantly increases the throughput rate of the pattern former.
The present invention further comprises a method of forming patterns of wrapped bakery products and thereafter unloading the patterned wrapped bakery products into bakery trays including the steps of providing a vacuum turntable having perforations therethrough, applying vacuum to the vacuum turntable while bakery products are loaded thereon, and creating an air assist while the patterned wrapped bakery products are unloaded from the vacuum turntable onto bakery trays for further processing. The method of the present invention is facilitated by a three-position valve located beneath the vacuum turntable. In its first position the valve establishes vacuum through the perforations of the turntable while the bakery products are loaded and arranged thereon. The second position of the valve defines a static position wherein air is not flowing through the perforations of the turntable. In its third position the valve directs air flow upwardly through the perforations of the turntable creating an air assist while the patterned bakery products are unloaded into a bakery tray. The air assist eliminates contact between the wrapped bakery products and the turntable thereby eliminating damage to bakery products.